BitLocker Management Simplified Without Sacrificing Security, with New SecureDoc Enhancements

WinMagic Applies SecureDoc’s Pre-Boot Authentication Features to Management of Microsoft BitLocker as well as TCG Enterprise Drives in Departmental Servers

MISSISSAUGA, ONTARIO, CANADA – February 20, 2014 - WinMagic Inc., the global innovator in data security, today introduced BitLocker management for the company’s popular SecureDoc data security software, which manages encrypted data at rest. Along with enhanced support for Trusted Computer Group (TCG) Enterprise drives, WinMagic is enabling customers to secure data in ways that are compatible with the most advanced storage approaches and common operating systems without experiencing any of the hassles typically associated with encryption management.

With availability scheduled for April 2014, these enhancements to SecureDoc provide customers with the most robust data encryption and security support in the industry. For those attending RSA Conference 2014, WinMagic and Seagate are demonstrating SecureDoc-managed TCG Enterprise drives during the TCG seminar held Monday, February 24 in room 2018, Moscone West.

When using BitLocker alone, users and administrators are able to take advantage of strong native encryption, but authentication is device-based, not user-based, as today’s businesses require. Solutions like SecureDoc BitLocker management help fill a key gap in this native encryption offering. SecureDoc management for BitLocker can do this in a couple of ways:

Better control and security for BitLocker through the enablement of strong user authentication and multi-factor authentication. Administrators can leverage existing network log-in credentials (instead of only a PIN) in addition to multi-factor authentication with smart cards or other tokens to lock down system access and guarantee high-level security of devices. This multi-factor authentication approach is critical for many government institutions and organizations with high security requirements.

More importantly, with a feature called PBConnex, SecureDoc allows for pre-boot network authentication – authenticating the users via the local network. This also enables IT managers to reset users’ passwords and make Active Directory role assignments without needing to visit each machine, and without users completing complicated password-challenge-response queries. This saves a dramatic amount of IT time without sacrificing the security of the machines.

PBConnex allows for the management of encrypted laptops or desktops without end users realizing those machines are encrypted, because the pain associated with encryption is removed. BitLocker users can now benefit from PBConnex, which not only makes encryption management easier, but also improves security, since encryption keys are never exposed during the log-in process.

Today’s businesses are increasingly working in hybrid security environments that include a combination of hardware and software encryption. With the addition of BitLocker management support in SecureDoc, customers no longer have to choose how and what to do for data encryption within their organization. Whether it’s SecureDoc on mobile devices like laptops, SED management and BitLocker on desktops that are less prone to loss and theft, SES can offer a single view to manage everything.

“Full disk encryption has always been the best solution for protection of data at rest but, it can be disruptive and not transparent to the end user or the organization,” said Thi Nguyen-Huu, Founder and CEO at WinMagic. “SEDs, for both mobile devices and servers, and encryption built into the OS are good steps forward to lessen this disruption. However this is only the starting point. Our one console solution already helps secure encrypted data on, and exchange between Windows, MAC and other platforms whether it be in the form of USB removable media or files on the network or the cloud. By extending our multi-platform encryption and key management to BitLocker and departmental servers we have taken the next step toward seamless protection for data at rest. This is regardless of where it is stored and independent of the actual encryption method consistent with our approach that encryption must be done on the endpoint and the keys controlled by the organization, not a third party, to be secure.”

SecureDoc OSA for Servers

WinMagic has been working with the TCG and supporting the Opal SED specification since its inception. WinMagic’s leadership in this space is evident by its market-leading support of Opal-compliant drives as well as through the innovative use of PBConnex in combination with SED management – SecureDoc OSA (Operating System Agnostic).

SecureDoc OSA allows SecureDoc users to encrypt their hard drive without needing to install any software in the OS. Using Opal SEDs, management and authentication are performed at pre-boot which eliminates the need to create an OS-specific installation package. This is ideal for organizations that want to be able to run things such as Linux in their environment and still be able to manage and audit the security of systems.

WinMagic has taken a similar approach to TCG Enterprise drives. In order to meet the demands of servers, larger storage is required that can be supported by TCG Enterprise drives. Enterprise drives offer the best, most secure and efficient way to encrypt data on a disk. With OSA for Servers, WinMagic has removed a key pain point for IT administrators and enabled remote unattended booting/re-booting of departmental servers via pre-boot network authentication – something traditionally impossible for encrypted servers and something only WinMagic offers today.

SecureDoc 6.4 is expected to be available in April 2014, with pricing starting at approximately $109 per license for non-managed environments. Volume pricing is available and subject to negotiation for managed IT environments.

About WinMagic Inc.

Since 1997, WinMagic has made it easy to secure data by offering leading encryption and key management solutions. WinMagic is trusted by the largest healthcare, finance, education, retail, manufacturing and government organizations worldwide. They deploy WinMagic solutions to minimize business risks, meet privacy/regulatory compliance requirements and to protect valuable information.

WinMagic’s core offering, SecureDoc, ensures the security of data at rest by managing how it’s encrypted. SecureDoc makes the lives of IT and security administrators easier by securing data no matter where it resides and across any operating system. WinMagic’s unique pre-boot functionality, PBConnex, delivers significant cost and time savings to IT pros, while making the solution more secure than the competition. SecureDoc ensures data security even as IT environments change, including transitions to BYOD (bring your own device) and cloud computing.

With a full complement of professional and customer services, WinMagic supports over 5 million SecureDoc users in more than 80 countries.

For more information, please visit www.winmagic.com, call 1-888-879-5879 or e-mail us at info@winmagic.com.